Vikramaditya (archive)

ARKHANGELSK, February 13. /ITAR-TASS/. India proposed that Russian military shipyard Sevmash in the northern Russian city of Severodvinsk should double from 20 to 40 years the warranty period for maintenance of aircraft carrier Vikramaditya (former Russian missile cruiser Admiral Gorshkov), the press service of the Russian shipyard, where the warship was refurbished, told Itar-Tass on Thursday after a meeting of representatives of two countries over the warranty period for the aircraft carrier and her maintenance in the post-warranty period.

“The meeting highlighted debates over terms of service life of the warship,” the press service said. “Her service life makes 20 years under the contract. However, India is confident that this service life may be extended to 40 years,” the press service reported.

Indian partners proposed to Sevmash to do all works for maintenance of the aircraft carrier jointly. Required infrastructure was created for basing aircraft carrier Vikramaditya at a naval base in Karwar. “In March chief executives of the enterprise will arrive in India again, they will discuss cooperation between Indian and Russian specialists,” the Sevmash press service said.

The Vikramaditya was handed over to Indian Navy on November 16, 2013 at Sevmash. On November 26, the aircraft carrier unmoored from the shipyard and headed for the Indian naval base. The warship arrived in Karwar on January 7.

Seventy-five specialists of Sevmash warranty service team are maintaining the warship in India.